


Happiness Don't Drag Its Feet

by deathishauntedbyhumans



Series: Radiation Funland [8]
Category: GURPS, Original Work
Genre: Affection, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, M/M, Multi, Original Character(s), Polyamory, Sickfic, Vomiting, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000, now edited to have less grammatical errors!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 15:46:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15710304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathishauntedbyhumans/pseuds/deathishauntedbyhumans
Summary: Dez gets sick in the middle of the night. Nick and Anaïs are there to make sure he's alright.





	Happiness Don't Drag Its Feet

**Author's Note:**

> Title takes from the song _Hey Pretty Girl_ by Kip Moore.

_I think I’m going to be sick._

Dez has been awake for nearly an hour when the thought occurs to him suddenly, but it’s the only thought in the last hour that has actually really mattered. His body jolts with the realisation as his temperature rises, and he forces himself upright as bile begins to gather in his throat. He vaults over Nick beside him, jarring both of his bedmates in the process, and stumbles out of the bed. He barely manages to push the door to their bathroom open before he retches, dropping to his knees in front of the toilet and shoving his head into it without any hesitation. The contents of last night’s dinner --steak and beans, courtesy of Nick’s famous down-home cooking-- wrestle their way up and out moments later.

He can hear Nick and Anaïs waking back in the bedroom in between his near-painful heaving. Nick mumbles something, too quietly for Dez to make any sense of from his current position. Dez figures he’s probably still got his face shoved into his pillow. Nick is like that, when he sleeps. Dez is often more than a little jealous of the way he can always pass out without any trouble at all.

“I told you he looked pale,” Anaïs says, likely in response to whatever it was that Nick had mumbled. A soft creaking noise sounds through both rooms, indicative of Anaïs’ lighter steps against the old wood flooring in their bedroom. “Dez?” she calls gently, flicking on the bathroom light. Dez squints against the sudden brightness and heaves again. Without prompting, Anaïs kneels at his side, one hand against his back and the other wending its way through his hair. He leans into the touch gratefully, entire body trembling from exertion. She reaches across him and flushes the toilet as he coughs and spits, sweat dripping down his forehead in sluggish beads of feverish perspiration.

“I, uh… don’t feel so well,” Dez states, shooting for dry humour. He misses it by a mile, the words coming out slurred and immediately segueing into another loud, dry heave.

“You’re burning up,” Anaïs tells him with concern plain in her voice. Dez spits into the toilet again.

“Here.” Suddenly, there is a hand with a cup of water in front of his nose, and Dez reaches for it obediently, taking half a sip before spitting the water back out to rinse the taste of the bile from his mouth. “You look like shit,” Nick adds, and Dez raises the cup with his trembling hand in a semblance of a toast before taking a tiny sip and holding it back out. Anaïs takes the cup from him and stands, and Dez feels rather than sees Nick kneel beside him to take her place. Dez stares at the toilet for another moment, testing himself, and when he doesn’t heave again, he slumps against Nick and allows his weight to rest heavily against the other man’s body.

“Damn. You really are hot,” Nick says, placing a hand against Dez’s forehead. When he tries to pull it away, Dez grabs at it, pressing Nick’s hand into his forehead with shaky, clumsy fingers.

“Cold,” he mumbles in explanation, his eyes falling shut at the merciful relief against his heated skin.

It’s times like this when Dez feels as small as he really is. Most of the time, he can keep up just fine with his partners; they all pick each other up when the others need it, and they’ve all worked hard on improving their own selves so that they can be the best they can for one another.

But Dez knows he still has issues. He still has things that are buried so deep that he can’t even _begin_ to drag them out into the light. And it takes its toll on him. Sleep doesn’t come easily, and when he doesn’t sleep, he gets sick. It’s a vicious cycle.

“You think you’re done pukin’?” Nick asks him, and Dez considers the question gravely before nodding, finally letting Nick take his hand away, since it has warmed considerably against Dez’s own flushed skin. He feels Anaïs lean down, brushing her lips to Dez’s forehead affectionately, and he gets his eyes half-open to watch her do the same to Nick, who smiles fondly back at her before looking back down at Dez. He’s still got that fond expression on his face, even if it darkens a little with worry when he catches sight of Dez’s dopey, half-lidded expression.

“Think you can make it back to bed?” Anaïs asks, and Dez gives a tiny shrug, still pressed tightly up against Nick.

“Dunno,” he mumbles honestly.

Vicious cycle or not, Anaïs and Nick take the illness in stride. Dez feels his chest ache with a feeling that has nothing to do with the fact that he’s just been sick. He doesn’t know how he got this lucky, how he managed to move past the trauma of his childhood and into the arms of not one, but _two_ people that care this much about him, but it’s something that he is grateful for every day that he wakes up between them.

“Love you,” he adds, still slurred, just because he’s thinking about it. He hears Nick huff a soft laugh, feels the puff of breath against his skin, and he hears the smile in Anaïs’ voice when she responds.

“We love _you_. Now, let’s see what we can do for you. The bathroom floor ain’t a good place to fall asleep.”

“I would know,” Nick jokes, and Dez laughs weakly before a violent chill wracks his thin frame.

Between the two of them, Nick and Anaïs manage to get Dez up off the floor, and from there, it’s only a hop, skip, and a jump --or rather, a trip, stumble, and slide-- back to their bed. Anaïs lies down on her side as Nick helps to keep Dez upright; when he lowers Dez down into the bed, Dez all but falls into her arms. He curls up, still shivering a little, and Nick flicks the bathroom light off again before joining them and tucking the blankets up around all three of them. Dez nestles himself snugly in between the two warm bodies, suddenly craving heat.

Despite the rising fever, it only takes Dez a few minutes to drift into a light sleep when he curls one hand around one of Nick’s and the other around one of Anaïs, holding onto them both like a lifeline to keep him anchored as he finally lets himself get the rest he so desperately needs.

**Author's Note:**

> Anaïs belongs to @humorless_hexagon  
> Nick belongs to @ragtag_slyboots
> 
> Kudos/comments are love! Come scream at me on tumblr @deathishauntedbyhumans


End file.
